Safeway is closing its doors at two Burnaby locations.
Sobeys Inc., the parent company of Safeway, announced Tuesday it plans to close up to 10 Lower Mainland Safeway stores by May, including Safeways at Lougheed mall and Royal Oak and Kingsway.
Both stores will close for good on May 5 at 6 p.m.
“It is no secret that many of our stores in B.C. have struggled in recent years. Customer demand for shopping at discount stores continues to grow, and we are not adequately serving this need in B.C. today. We look forward to the opportunity to serve these communities in B.C. under the FreshCo name,” read a statement by Sobeys Inc.
The company is currently in collective bargaining negotiations with UFCW 1518, the union that represents 4,500 Safeway employees, and it has said that, depending on the outcome of those negotiations, it could reopen five of the 10 Safeway stores as FreshCo stores.
But the two Burnaby locations set to close are not included in the five that could reopen, according to the company. (The stores that could reopen as FreshCos are in Richmond, Surrey and Mission.)
Sobeys Inc. did not say what would happen to the Burnaby sites once the stores close.
The Lougheed mall site, at 9855 Austin Rd., is owned by Shape Properties and is be part of an $827-million redevelopment that will see the aging mall transformed into the City of Lougheed. Construction on the first phase of that project is set to begin later this year.
The Royal Oak and Kingsway location at 5235 Kingsway is owned by Crombie REIT, a Canadian real estate investment trust. The company bought the property from Sobeys Inc. in 2016 along with 12 other freestanding stores and seven retail plazas under the Sobeys banner. Since then, Sobeys has been leasing the location for its Safeway store.
Crombie also owns the adjacent sites at 6440 Royal Oak Ave. and 5280 Irving St. Together the three properties have an assessed value of more than $34 million. The site is zoned as mixed use and offers a commercial and residential development opportunity, according to Crombie REIT’s website.
In an emailed statement to the NOW,Crombie declined to comment on the future of the site at this time “as it is premature.”
Further information can be expected once the plans are finalized, noted the statement.
The NOW also contacted Shape Properties for comment, but they have yet to respond.
Safeway locations at Kensington Square, 6564 East Hastings St., and the Heights, 4440 Hastings St., will remain open.
